AppleTree Markets
AppleTree Markets was the last locally-owned supermarket chain in the Brazos Valley area. Company History Safeway, based out of California, put its 18-year-old Houston division up for sale in 1988 in an effort to raise money to pay off debts from a $4 billion leveraged buyout in 1986.Bivins, Ralph. "Local firm to buy 99 Safeway stores." Houston Chronicle. Tuesday June 14, 1988. Section 1, Page 1. Retrieved on July 1, 2010. On June 14, 1988, Safeway agreed to sell its Houston division to Texas Supermarkets Inc., a holding company formed by local investors Duncan Cook & Co. and the Sterling Group. The deal included 50 stores in Houston, 20 in Austin, stores in 23 other communities in East and Central Texas, along with a distribution center, frozen food warehouse, bread manufacturing plant and milk processing plant.Bivins, Ralph. "Sale of local Safeways severs Texas ties." Houston Chronicle. Wednesday June 15, 1988. Business 1. Retrieved on July 1, 2010. At the time of the $174 million transaction, Safeway's 18 percent market share ranked third in the Houston market behind Kroger, with 27 percent, and Randall's Food Markets, with 21 percent.Bivins, Ralph. "Safeways drew $174 million/South Texas deal detailed." Houston Chronicle. Friday September 30, 1988. Business 1. Retrieved on July 1, 2010. M. Dean Gantt, the former Houston division manager, assumed the position of president and chief executive officer of Texas Supermarkets Inc., which initially owned only eight of the stores from the transaction and leased the rest from Safeway. Texas Supermarkets was allowed to operate under the Safeway banner until June 28, 1989, but it would continue to do so until a new name began appearing in July 1989—AppleTree Markets.Bivins, Ralph. "Texas Safeway stores getting new name." Houston Chronicle. Thursday July 13, 1989. Business 1. Retrieved on July 1, 2010. Five stores were renamed Budget Stores, stores with slightly lower prices on some items and fewer speciality shops such as delis, bakeries, and floral shops. The last of the Safeway banners was replaced in September 1989. Gantt retired abruptly in October 1989 and was replaced a month later by Arthur L. Patch, senior vice president of Dublin, California-based Lucky Stores Inc."Ex-Safeway exec to head AppleTree." Houston Chronicle. Thursday November 30, 1989. Business 8. Retrieved on July 1, 2010. Bankruptcy The company struggled with the debt that originated from the 1988 leveraged buyout out Safeway's stores.Narom, Beverly and Cynthia Shanley. "Supermarkets stocking up for major food fight." Houston Post. April 26, 1992. A1. Available at the Microfilm desk of the Jesse H. Jones Building of the Houston Public Library Central Library. "It had also been no secret that one of the largest Houston operators, AppleTree Markets, had been struggling under the heavy debt load of its 1988 leveraged buyout of Safeway's area stores." After failed attempts to restructure that debt,Sixel, L.M. "AppleTree gets $10 million line of credit." Houston Chronicle. Wednesday June 19, 1991. Business 3. Retrieved on July 1, 2010.Boisseau, Charles. "AppleTree gets $120 million loan." Houston Chronicle. Friday August 23, 1991. Business 2. Retrieved on July 1, 2010.Proposed AppleTree buyout dissolves, Houston Chronicle, November 26, 1991. AppleTree sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1992.AppleTree files for Chapter 11, Houston Chronicle, January 3, 1992. Soon after the filing, AppleTree announced its plans to begin closing stores.AppleTree plans to close five stores, Houston Chronicle, January 31, 1992. Arthur Patch resigned his post in March 1992, and the chairman of the company's board, Fred R. Lummis, took the helm.AppleTree chief resigns position/Grocery chain to close five stores, Houston Chronicle, March 21, 1992. Also a growing problem was the chain's aging store base. The bulk of Safeway units in Houston dated from the late 1960s and early 1970s, and a logo change in 1981-1982 was the only alteration, if any, to most of such stores before the AppleTree split. Many former Weingarten's stores, which had been acquired by Safeway in 1983, were even older. A very small minority of Houston Safeways were built in 1986, but these were larger and had a more modern, conventional prototype. To cut costs and raise cash, AppleTree continued to close stores or sell its stores to competitors such as Fiesta Mart, Gerland's Food Fair, and Market Basket.AppleTree selling 8 stores, including 4 in Houston area, Houston Chronicle, April 24, 1992.AppleTree sells eight more stores, Houston Chronicle, May 28, 1992. The company would also look to move its headquarters to a smaller facility,AppleTree to look for smaller home/Current headquarters too big, costly, Houston Chronicle, April 25, 1992. as well as close its distribution warehouse.AppleTree shutting warehouse/Grocery chain to ax 150 workers, Houston Chronicle, May 19, 1992. In its reorganization plan, AppleTree announced plans to close or sell 33 additional stores.AppleTree hopes to shed more stores/Reorganization plan would close 33 sites, Houston Chronicle, May 2, 1992.Japanese may have slice of revamped AppleTree, Houston Chronicle, May 5, 1992.AppleTree creditors accept plan/Japanese bank would be biggest shareholder, Houston Chronicle, September 18, 1992.AppleTree revival plan gets boost/Japanese bank obtains approval to raise stake, Houston Chronicle, September 30, 1992. Post-bankruptcy As a result of the reduction of stores, AppleTree's northwest Houston grocery distribution facility, which included a refrigerated warehouse, a large bakery and a major milk plant, was larger than AppleTree's needs. The facility was still owned by Safeway, and it was sold to H-E-B.HEB buys Safeway warehouse/Chain expands in northwest area, Houston Chronicle, July 30, 1993. As a result, AppleTree would buy its dairy products from a supplier and also relocated its headquarters to a building in northwest Houston. AppleTree announced in November 1993 it would sell its remaining 49 stores to competitors.Grocery wars uproot AppleTree/Chain selling all its supermarkets, Houston Chronicle, November 16, 1993.Competitors carve up AppleTree/Nine rivals purchase 28 stores, Houston Chronicle, November 25, 1993.AppleTree closings surprise some/New owners preparing to reopen, Houston Chronicle, January 6, 1994.AppleTree store sold, Houston Chronicle, January 12, 1994. Eleven stores were sold to Kroger, five stores to Gerland's, four to Fiesta Mart, three stores to Rice Food Markets, 15 to Randall's Food Markets (including 12 Central Texas locations, of which three were closed), and one store each to H-E-B, Cox's Foodarama, Big Chief Super Markets, Stanley Stores, Super Warehouse Foods, and Sellers Bros.. Ironically, some of the former Safeway stores Randall's purchased from AppleTree became part of Safeway once again when Safeway bought Randall's in 1999. AppleTree chief executive Tony Kubicek purchased the last six AppleTree stores and planned to operate the stores as an independent, Houston-based chain bearing the AppleTree name.Six stores to keep AppleTree name/Sites seen as seeds for growth, Houston Chronicle, August 4, 1994. Three of the stores were in Bryan-College Station, two in Houston, and one in Huntsville. AppleTree closed its last Houston location in 1997.Last apple on the Houston tree/AppleTree cuts loose lone store, Houston Chronicle, July 23, 1997. With the closing, AppleTree operated three stores in Bryan-College Station, where it would eventually relocate its corporate staff and also where chief executive Tony Kubicek 35 years earlier sacked groceries at a Safeway store when he was a student at Texas A&M University. AppleTree further retrenched to its two Bryan locations after closing its College Station store.Bryan Grocery Stores (PDF), Bryan Texas Utilities, March 2004. =Stores AppleTree Markets/Safeway had three stores in Bryan-College Station. One was at the corner of Harvey Road (TX-30 and Texas Avenue (BS-6), at Culpepper Plaza. It replaced a store down further on Harvey Road (which had opened as a Weingarten's) and was closed in 2002. It was eventually demolished as part of a redevelopment and opened as in-line space. Today, there is a Spec's store on half of the former AppleTree footprint. One was at the corner of East 29th Street and Villa Maria Road East. It had replaced a Safeway store (located catty-corner to the current location) and converted to Village Foods in 2009 after it was bought by the owner of the nearby Galleria Village. The original location is now a church and Brazos Bingo. The store on TX-21 in Bryan closed in late 2009 or early 2010. It is now Super Canasta. References Category:Defunct Category:Local companies Category:Shops and Businesses